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Old 06-23-2022, 12:27 PM
RJVB RJVB is offline
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Default Cittern (bronze) treble strings on guitar?

I hope I'm posting this in the most appropriate subforum...

I have a hate/love relationship with the sound signature of the plain wire guitar trebles and still looking for alternatives that sound better. That is, that will sing (almost) as nicely but with some colouring and with much less jingly twang.

I just realised that bronze (or more likely, brass) strings are being made for citterns, and wonder if anyone can tell me if these are likely to survive a reasonable amount of time as high E and B strings and give reasonable intonation with the standard compensation? What gauges would I have to order to get tensions comparable to a 11 gauge E and 15 gauge B?

FWIW, I did try a TI Plectrum AC16 G string (flat-wound with brass) as a B. That worked (except for intonation of course) but I was surprised to find that I disliked the sound.
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Old 06-28-2022, 12:00 PM
catt catt is offline
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Fwiw, alloys other than bronze are commonly used on wire harps - to overcome the sonic deficiencies of bronze. Brass is most common. However, it's more brittle and more prone to breakage. We can use it on harps, but prbly not robust enough for fretted instruments.

Last edited by catt; 06-28-2022 at 12:12 PM.
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